


If Ever I Would Leave You

by Weddersins



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canonverse AU, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gingerflower, Hux loves his cat, Hux may be a little ooc, POV Rose Tico, Post TLJ, Rose Tico is a badass, Roux - Freeform, and they were spies!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 13:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21271622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weddersins/pseuds/Weddersins
Summary: Prompt fill for #rosember on Twitter - Day One, #whereisrose. Canonverse AU, featuring established GingerFlower being sneaky, sneaky spies. Feel-good fluffy oneshot.





	If Ever I Would Leave You

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to [ theselittlethings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theselittlethings/pseuds/theselittlethings) for continuing to fight the good fight against my love affair with the word "had."

Rose strode down the dark-walled hallway with a confidence she didn’t feel. Sure, she’d done this before. Sure, her clothes were immaculately pressed and she’d finally sorted out how to keep her hair in regulation and her boots gleamed as brightly as the next person’s. But even this assembly of armor couldn’t lend her confidence. 

It never had before - why should she expect it to have started now? First time, fiftieth time - walking the sterile corridors of a Star Destroyer never felt any easier. 

Not for the first time, Rose found herself wondering why in the hell she’d jumped at this assignment. _ Well_, she reasoned with herself at the time, _ I already have the uniform. _And Finn and Poe and Rey had been gone on their own mission for so long… Weeks at the time, with almost a year gone by now. 

That may have been the start of it - but there were other reasons now. It didn’t do to dwell on _ that_, here, in the thick of the others with their black boots, grey uniforms, and aloof gazes. Rose had to focus - no need to attract attention. No need to have the disinterested expressions of the drones turn to her with malicious interest.

She followed the red lights along the corridor, taking a pathway she knew by heart. Three lefts, a right; follow the dogleg, then take the second right. Her goal was a small door - barely an access hatch, really - but the hallway was disused and her contact long ago set the surveillance to a specific loop at a specific time. _ Friends in high places_, she mused. 

Rose continued down her proscribed path with a measured pace, her booted footfalls in no way betraying the thudding of her traitorous heart. The others scurrying alongside her went their own ways, one by one, and by the time she reached the dogleg she was alone. 

She approached the access hatch without ceremony, though her nerves were jangled and stomach roiled with anticipation. It was easy from here. Use the access crawl to reach a small supply closet, and there he’d be. 

Waiting. 

She knew what that meant, and refused to analyze the somersault her stomach performed at the thought. 

It was only a short, dust-filled scramble before Rose arrived at the correct panel in the cramped space, a tiny red light serving as the only indication that she chose correctly. She popped the marked panel from inside the crawl, catching it before it had a chance to clatter to the floor in the room beyond. Rose wiggled through the opening feet first and unfolded herself slowly, brushing the dust from the knees of her uniform cautiously. 

“You’re late.” 

Rose turned to face the speaker, hands on her hips. “Well, I would have been on time if the docking supervisor had liked the pilot’s code a little better. You know, for a regularly-scheduled delivery from _ your own base _ you’d think they could be a bit more trusting -”

Anything Rose has left to say was swallowed by another mouth against hers, hot and urgent and _ wanting. _

“Perhaps they’re right to be cautious,” Armitage Hux murmured, punctuating his words with a peck on the corner of her mouth. “After all, I have it on good authority that there’s a spy aboard.” 

Rose pulled back, smiling as she tugged his uniform cap low on his brow. “Is there? Oh _ dear_. You should look into that.” 

She returned his kiss with one of her own before yanking his black cap off entirely, allowing it to drop to the floor without ceremony. Hux stared back at her with unshadowed eyes, the barest hint of crinkling at their edges softening what might have otherwise been an imperious stare. 

“I intend to,” he intoned, stepping forward with a wolfish grin.

Hux pressed her against the wall of the supply closet, sending a broom handle to the floor in the process. Uncareful hands wound through her hair, knocking her own hat to the floor. Rose’s hands copied the motion, brushing along cheeks covered with the barest hint of stubble. Her fingers found their rest among red strands of hair, stiff with pomade. It was always a small joy of hers to knock his perfectly coiffed hair askew. 

He moved from her mouth to the smooth column of her neck, nipping and sucking and _ licking _ in a way that made Rose squirm. She pressed her thighs together and moaned, eliciting a throaty laugh from the general. 

“I think I’m onto something,” he growled, tugging open the placard of her jacket. Teeth grazed her collarbone, and the searing kiss that followed was sure to bruise. Rose pushed Hux back, angling herself to capture his mouth before he left any more signs of their tryst on her skin. 

“Sounds dangerous,” Rose panted, pulling back from their kiss for a moment. “You should be careful.” She tapped the bridge of his nose playfully before dropping her hand to his cheek. 

“I am _ always _ careful.” Hux’s grin was feral, his eyes flecks of steel above a cherry-bright mouth. He turned to kiss the palm of her hand, holding her eyes in his as he did. He smiled again, softer, and closed the distance between them once more. “I pay attention to every single detail.” Each word was marked with a kiss and Rose couldn’t help but laugh, low and gentle, against his mouth. 

“I’ve never known you to be anything but thorough,” she replied, planting her hands against the front of his over-starched jacket. “I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

A wandering hand dropped to her chest, further opening the fastenings of her jacket. A gentle squeeze almost disguised the motion of two fingers depositing a datachip into the pocket above her left breast, while the other hand worked to free its mate from the confines of its bindings. 

“I always do.” Hux growled, lowering his mouth to her chest again. Rose tilted her head back, buried her fingers in his too-red hair and closed her eyes. 

They snapped open in alarm as an unfamiliar noise echoed in the world outside their room. A droid whirred from down the hallway, beeping and chirruping to itself in a vaguely irritated manner. They both froze. Rose covered her chest protectively. Heavy footfalls sounded after the droid. 

“It’s around here somewhere, EssFour. I _ know _ your wheel is wobbling, quit fussing and help me look.”

Rose glanced down at the storage container by the door, bright red letters cheerfully announcing that it contained several droid maintenance kits. She pointed at it frantically, her eyes locking with Hux’s as she tugged her bindings closed. 

He nodded and motioned towards the still-open hatch. Fingers closed around Rose’s upper arm, dragging her forward, but she pushed Hux through first. He disappeared ungracefully but silently into the access tunnel, boots barely clicking against the metal. 

“Here’s the closet - it’s probably locked, EssFour, can you plug in?”

A rattling chirrup sounded at the door, and Rose scrambled to grab Hux’s hat from where it lay on the floor. She tossed it into the open hatch and clambered in as quickly as possible. Rose had just enough time to grab the panel and hold it in place before the damnably efficient droid opened the door. 

Rose froze, muscles already aching. The panel wasn’t secure - if she let go, it would shift, and there was no way the droid and his companion would miss _ that. _

Hux stared at her, eyes wide but calm. She nodded, and he nodded back. Rose’s arms shook, but she held fast. 

“Finally - oh, it’s right there, Maker’s sake. I cannot believe they couldn’t find this. We work with a bunch of moof-milkers, EssFour…”

A grunt and a scape - Rose closed her eyes, tightened the muscles in her shoulders. _ Please be faster. _ A bead of sweat rolled down her neck. 

This door was kriffing _ heavy._

“Alright, let’s go -”

The droid squawked, staccato and urgent. 

“What hat, where?”

Rose’s blood ran cold. She looked back at Hux, who stared at the empty space above her head like a guilty child. He twisted his own black hat anxiously. _ Kriffing hell, _ how had she left _ her _ hat? 

“Oh, just leave it EssFour, whoever left it here deserves to go looking for it. I’m certainly not helping them out. Come on, we’re going to be overdue and then it'll be our guts for garters.”

An angry bork from the droid.

“Yes, I’m well-aware you don’t actually _have_ guts, you pedantic rust bucket. I can _and_ _will_ take you apart, EssFour, you’d do well to remember that.”

The door slammed. The noise of the man and the droid faded into the background too slowly for Rose’s tastes. After a long moment, she exhaled and slotted the panel into its proper spot with a heavy _ clunk_. Rose flopped against the cool metal of the access tunnel, groaning as she rubbed her aching arms. 

“That was… too close,” Hux supplied. He crawled awkwardly through the narrow passage, bashed his head against a low-hung pipe before he folded himself beside her. His pale hands tugged her jacket closed, fixed the fasteners with nimble fingers. 

“We’re getting careless,” Rose murmured. _ And this is so, so much bigger than us. _She raised her hand to her throat, brushed softly over the hidden cord that held half of a pendant. A pendant that would miss its mate forever, no matter what course the war took. 

Hux’s expression turned serious, and he tapped the hidden datachip still secure in its pocket. “Won’t have to be careful for much longer.”

Rose’s eyes narrowed, a fresh wave of adrenaline caused her blood to run cold. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” he sighed, and ran a hand through his still-mussed hair. “I mean you probably shouldn’t linger today.”

“What _ exactly _ is on that chip?”

“Everything. Everything that I could gather safely, and even some things I couldn’t.” 

“Armie -” Rose’s voice hovered somewhere between pleading and scolding, and she hated it. 

Hux shook his head, straightened a piece of her hair. “The time for caution has passed, Rose. We knew this day was coming… and now it’s here.” 

She hated the finality in his tone. 

They sat in silence, Rose unwilling to say what was on her mind and Hux equally unwilling to prod it from her. They knew the end of this game before they’d even begun playing it, but staring it in the face was harder than either of them expected. 

“How long til -”

Hux shrugged, broke eye contact and looked down at his lap. “Hard to say. I suppose at least a day.”

“And you’re just going to sit here and _ wait_?” Rose’s incredulous whisper almost raised to a shriek.

“What would you have me do? Steal a TIE like your friend, fly off into the sunset?”

“I mean, it’s at _ least _ a thought, better than just giving up -”

“I can’t fly Rose, I’d crash the kriffing thing right into the deck -”

“- Armie.”

“- If I’m going to die I think I'd prefer it not to be in a giant fireball, if it’s all the same to you -”

“Armie, I think there’s a better solution here.”

“- and I… wait; what?”

The corners of Rose’s mouth turned up, and her eyes glinted with mischief. “I have an idea. You know the armor storage room in Sector A?”

“Not intimately, but -”

“Could you get there in ten minutes, going back the way you came?”

“I suppose -”

“Good. Do it.”

“Rose, what -”

“Just trust me.”

“But -”

“Trust me.”

“Are you even going to let me finish my -”

“Nope,” Rose said cheerfully, reaching over to brush a dust bunny from his shoulder. “You may not. Meet me there in ten minutes, and be ready to leave. Now scoot aside, I’m going to get my hat.”

——

It was exactly thirteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds before Hux strode in the back door of the armor storage room, carrying a yowling ball of orange fur. 

Rose set down her purloined datapad and stared at him incredulously. 

“What?” he said defensively. “I had to catch her.” The cat hissed, leaping from Hux’s grasp and landing softly on the floor. He threw his arms up in the air in exasperation. “Millicent, _ please_.”

“You never told me you had a cat.” 

“It never came up.”

“I’ve never so much as _ seen _ a cat hair on your pants, how do you manage to... oh, nevermind.” Rose watched the cat wind through the empty armored legs of several stormtrooper outfits, and she grimaced. 

“Is she the only thing you brought?” There was a suspicious lack of a bag - or even a carrier for the blasted animal. It was just Hux, the cat, and Rose’s anxiety. 

“I couldn’t very well just leave her _ here_,” Hux said stiffly, bending down to the floor and calling softly for the cat. She stood in the shadows and mewled, refusing to take the bait. 

Rose pinched the bridge of her nose, eyeing the racks of unassigned armor warily. Unfortunately, none of them were cat-sized. 

“How are we supposed to…” Rose looked at Hux, who was on hands and knees making kissy noises towards the inside of a chestplate. 

She was suddenly struck with the lonely thought that this cat was really all he had. Rose sighed. “You know what? Nevermind. It’s fine. It’s totally fine. This is… great. We’re gonna be okay,” Rose said, as much to herself as to Hux. 

The orange cat wound herself around Rose’s ankles, purring contentedly. 

“She likes you,” Hux said from his position on the floor. He shook his head. “I’m not even sure she likes _ me _ half the time.”

Rose gave him a withering stare as she knelt down to scratch the cat. “She’s a smart girl. Now go start trying on armor, it’s going to take me more than a quick minute to fool the manifest into thinking an extra trooper is supposed to be aboard, so don’t waste time. Tell me the armor’s designation as soon as you can.”

Hux quickly disappeared behind a rack of chestplates. Rose rubbed the cat’s chin, felt the rumble of her purrs beneath her fingertips. “And just what are we going to do with you, missy?” 

The cat only blinked in reply. 

In the end, it was simpler than Rose had imagined. With the poor cat confined in an opaque evidence box and Hux stuffed into partially-fitting armor, they’d boarded Rose’s transport ship almost ten minutes before it was due to take off for the base. The docking manager hadn’t even given the perhaps-slightly-too-tall trooper HX-589 a second glance as they shuffled aboard. 

Rose was sat with the officers, the cat-box placed carefully on her lap to avoid cutting off any of the hastily-drilled air holes. She lost sight of Hux as he was shuffled off with the enlisted, and she tried not to panic. 

If he could manage to keep from getting snippy for ninety minutes, they’d be back on Vardos with no one the wiser. Then the only thing standing between them and their return to the Resistance was getting off the base to the tiny shuttle Snap had piloted there that morning. He wasn’t going to be a welcome passenger, but Rose was confident she could keep Snap from shooting Hux on sight. 

She’d worry about the rest of the Resistance later. 

The drone of a recorded preflight message echoed through the transport, and Rose couldn’t help but grin as she felt the engines roar to life beneath her feet. Millicent seemed less enthused. 

——

Hux removed his helmet as soon as they were clear of the First Order base, dropping it to the forest floor and kissing Rose as soundly as she’d ever been kissed in her life. 

She returned it with enthusiasm, no longer sure if it was the adrenaline comedown or the way his lips hit hers _ just so _ that was making her arms tremble. 

They broke apart, Rose searching the trees for Snap before turning her attention back to Hux. He, too, watched the trees warily.

“Are you alright? Are you - are you _ ready _ for this?” Rose asked softly, needing to vocalize her hesitance even though she knew Hux was smart enough to realize what lay ahead for him. The Resistance wouldn’t simply welcome him with open arms, no matter what intelligence he had brought them. 

_ We could run, _ she thought madly, _ we could escape into the forest and make our own way - _

As if sensing her thoughts, Hux nudged the chip still in her pocket. This was far, far bigger than the both of them. He smiled, and she smiled back. “I understand. The odds are still better than being summarily - and publicly - executed.”

Rose grabbed a handful of red hair, tugging him back down into another kiss. She wondered how many of these they would have left. _ Just enough. It will be enough. _

They stood together, just for a moment - foreheads pressed together, the cat meowing from her box at their feet. 

Snap came across them like this, and was too surprised to even draw his gun. 

Now in the shuttle, Rose settled back into her seat. Snap still regarded Hux with a wary eye. Hux, for his part, had insisted Rose take the more comfortable bench and crammed himself into the jump seat. His armor squeaked along with every jolt of turbulence. Millicent yowled from her perch on the co-pilot’s chair, swiping at Snap’s sleeve when he reached over to burn the thrusters. 

Rose was suddenly more exhausted than she’d ever been in her life, the adrenaline leaving her abruptly as she thought of _ home _. Closing her eyes, she ran through the logistics of exactly to whom she’d be pleading Hux’s case. She’d have to go immediately - despite Snap’s peaceable attitude here, well inside enemy territory, the moment they landed at home the story would change. 

General Organa was an obvious choice. Though she’d demurred several times when Rose had attempted to tell her the identity of their contact, the woman knew there was a highly-placed mole in the First Order. She received every bit of information Rose brought back from Hux. 

She would see. And regardless of what happened in the interim - being a prisoner of the Resistance was preferable to being shot as a traitor to the First Order. 

Hux had heartily agreed. 

Rose’s thoughts swam to warmer places, and she felt herself begin to drift into sleep despite her best efforts to the contrary. The cat meowed loudly, hopped into Rose’s lap and curled herself there with a content purr. 

From the corner of her blurred vision, she saw Hux smile. His red hair was still mussed, both from her fingers and the stormtrooper’s armored helmet. He looked like a new man, with no trace of the pinched look that usually haunted his features. 

He was heading to prison, but he was _ free. _

Rose buried her fingers in orange fur and let her eyes fall closed. Her thoughts drifted, lighting on and fleeing from subjects with equal reticence. 

She thought of the chip in her pocket, of the nebulous secrets it held and how it could change the course of the war. 

She thought of the now-stateless man in the chair beside her, and how drastically a year could change the course of a life. 

She thought of Finn and Poe, of Rey and her own shadowy contact. Of the months and miles in between them, fighting a battle she knew nothing about. She hoped they were well. 

If they could only see where she was now. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/weddersins).


End file.
